Camera
As mentioned before, the PadFone Infinity
shares the same 13MP image sensor as the PadFone 2, except this newer device
comes with a brighter f/2.0 lens. Plus the fact that Asus has more time to
optimize the sensor's firmware, not surprising that we are seeing better
results this time. In the Padfone 2 review, we have complained about the severe
loss of detail in night shots due to the high noise-suppression rate, so we're
pleased to say this is not a problem on the Infinity. (the PadFone 2's also
received a fix for the aforementioned issue since our review).
The
PadFone Infinity shares the same 13MP image sensor as the PadFone 2.
In comparison pictures against the HTC One,
you can see how the distant billboards maintain a fair amount of detail in the
Infinity's photos, although the One is still outstanding with better color
accuracy, perhaps due to its larger pixels. About HDR, we like the results on
the Infinity at night, but we too often find ourselves relying on said feature,
because the image contrast is too strong (this can also be fixed in post by
adjusting the gamma using a photo editor). Daytime performance in general is
quite good, faithfully reproducing even the fluorescent range of colors.
However, we often have to increase the exposure manually when trying to capture
objects under the bright sky.
Little has changed with the camera app
since we reviewed the Padfone 2. With the volume keys facing upward in landscape
mode, the app's intuitive layout gives you dedicated buttons for taking stills
and recording video on the right (you can also capture full resolution pictures
during filming). Meanwhile, the left column is occupied by many settings:
modes, resolution, exposure and effects. The top-left button lets you toggle
between still camera settings and video camera settings, without locking you
down to either still mode or video mode - a problem that many other camera apps
have.
Daytime
performance in general is quite good, faithfully reproducing even the
fluorescent range of colors.
While you can use the virtual button or one
of the two volume keys to trigger camera, the Infinity also features a new
voice-activated shutter that responds to "shoot," "cheese"
or "one, two, three," and you can activate this mode in the menu
settings in the lower left corner of the camera app. The only real warning
while taking pictures or video when using the Infinity in tablet mode is that you
really need to keep in mind the real direction of the phone. Put simply: if you
want to take a landscape photo or video (which you should do), you need to hold
the tablet in portrait mode.
As most of the current flagship phones, the
Infinity's camera is listed with zero shutter lag, but we noticed that this is
disabled out of the box. We soon discovered the reason: once enabled, the
virtual viewfinder started to stutter, presumably due to the extra resources
taken up by the sensor and its ISP. However, you can activate the burst mode,
which supports 8fps continuous shooting - up from 6fps with the Padfone 2 - for
up to 100 shots in the full 13MP resolution. It also works with 10 filters
provided by the camera application, our favorite filter is "Dropper"
which allows you to remove a specific color in the live feed.
There are 8 available scenes for the still
camera: portrait, landscape, night, snow, sunset, party, backlight and vivid.
They can be used in all camera modes including HDR mode mentioned above,
portrait mode (formerly "beautification mode", for eye enlargement,
cheek blushing, face slimming and removing skin shine), panorama mode and a new
animated GIF mode. Creating GIF image is very similar to taking a series of 30
frames, with a choice of 0.8MP, 0.3MP or 0.1MP in 4:3, or 1MP in widescreen
ratio. The files become large very quickly, so you should use low resolution.
Camera video mode is very much the same as
before. On top of the usual set of resolution options, you can also pick one of
the following high-frame-rate modes for slicker playback: 1080p at 30fps, 720p
at a rate of 20fps to 60fps, and 480p at a rate from 20fps to 90fps. The
varying frame rate is to compensate for the shooting environment's brightness,
so do not be afraid if your nighttime clips come out just as choppy as those
taken in the normal mode. By the time to talk about this subject, Asus has also
added slow-motion mode (with silence) in 720p or 480p resolution, although
there is no way to control how much you slow down, as on the Xiaomi Phone 2.
Camera
video mode is very much the same as before
As on the Padfone 2, the video camera mode
has the same set of filters as the still camera mode. Similarly, there is also
a group of silly face effects which make interesting things for the face,
eyes, mouth or nose, although it is limited to 480p, which should be adequate
for a quick laugh. Back to normal video mode, there's nothing much to complain
about the picture quality, but we did notice that the first second of audio
always gets chopped off, followed by a sudden drop in noise at about three
seconds into each clip - probably related to the phone's active noise
reduction. Again, we are sure that both can be solved via an update. Here are
some sample clips to keep you occupied for the time being: The first clip is
1080p, 23fps, and the second video is 720p, 50fps.
